An introductionto Beacons

What are Beacons andhow do they work?

3

What?

A beacon is a transmitter at a known location, which

emits a continuous or periodic radio signal with limited

information content (for example its identification or

location).

How?

Any radio technology can be used to identify location but

the most relevant technologies from a mobile beacon

perspective are Wifi, Bluetooth and RFID.

Beacons indicate their presence so that enabled devices

can locate them. Each beacon is given a unique identifier.

When a user’s device enters the beacon area, all installed

apps subscribing to this unique identifier

are notified.

Beacon uses

Depending on where the customers are in a store, and if they are

carrying an enabled device, they will be able to receive messages

from the closest beacon. For example, when browsing through a

specific section in a store, whether it be footwear or mp3 players,

the local beacon could share location-specific information on

special offers, interesting facts, targeted promotions and more.

As the customer moves to a different location, a new beacon

in the area will alert them to offers on products they are now in

proximity to. Using mobile beacon technology, customers can

be contacted and kept informed while in-store to enrich their

experience.

Mobile proximity marketing

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No purchases on sales.

Capuccino at Starbucks.

Eyewear sections.

Sushi & Italian restaurants.

Restaurant offers.

Accessories sections.

Cinema sunday evening.

Leather bags.

HJ09624

Gardening stores.

Gourmet food

sections.

Tabaco.

Knowing a customer’s exact location means it is easier to

deliver information which is relevant to them at that precise

moment and context. However, micro-location user targeting

can go far beyond simple proximity marketing. By being able to

track a consumer’s behaviour, interests and location patterns

within a store or other business, we can obtain a clearer picture

of the individual. Not only do we know what they purchase, but

we know what interests them judging by how long they stay in

a section, and can identify the factors triggering a purchase.

The information collected can then be analysed for a truly

personalized, relevant and engaging conversation.

Micro-location & user targeting

30 mCheck in

With micro-location targeting, it is easier to offer users valuable

information on navigating large areas such as airports, stadiums

or shopping centers. For example, a person arriving at an airport

they are not familiar with could be guided through it via beacons.

A beacon at the entrance could welcome them and direct them

to their airline desk for check-in. Once at the check-in desks, a

new beacon could provide information on the best route through

airport security as well as gate information. Stores, restaurants

and other locations of interest would also be announced,

specifying relevant offers where available.

Indoor-mapping

Particularly interesting for museums and cities, a user could be

guided through the points of interest as well as providing further

information on their visit. With merely their mobile device enabled

to receive beacon communications, the user could forgo city

guidebooks and focus on exploring the city. Receiving valuable

and relevant information at key attractions as well as the best

routes to take within the city, would add an element of flexibility

and freedom to the user experience. Guided museum tours

would operate on a smaller scale in a similar fashion.

Mobile tour guides

PayPal’s Beacon is a Bluetooth Low Energy USB module for stores

and other businesses allowing consumers to pay hands-free. The

device sets up communication between points-of-sale and mobile

devices without the use for GPS, wireless or mobile networks.

The user has to install the PayPal app on their mobile device, set

up their preferences for automatic check-ins and approve being

charged for any goods they purchase or consume. Once the

customer enters their preferred business, a vibration notifies them

of their check-in as their photo appears on the merchant’s POS.

Confirmation of verbal payment would complete the transaction

with a receipt sent automatically by email.

Mobile hands-free payments

The most controversial but also the most common use case today

of Wifi beacons is using the data collected by the Wifi hotspots for

business intelligence. Without users giving permission, the owner

of the Wifi nodes can use it to answer questions like “how many

people walk by a given location each day”, ”what are the busiest

hours throughout the day/week”, “how long is the average person

spending inside the venue/location” and “where in a store/location

people spend most time”. This can be used for everything from

choosing locations and planning store layouts, to understanding

who the customers are and using those insights to come up with

new sales strategies. With user opt-in, the data becomes even

more accurate and valuable.

Tracking & business intelligence

How does iBeaconcompare to other technologies?

PIXELATED

Wifi

Technology soon available with Wifi to

be used with all smartphones.

Relatively inexpensive.

Requires an installed app by user to

engage.

Investments in Wifi SW/HW to achieve

accuracy*

Wifi power consumption higher then

Bluetooth.

NFC/RFID

Great accuracy for use with payments

and product information.

Very low cost of RFID sensors/stickers

(0.01 USD).

Not supported by Apple.

20 cm (7.9 inch) range.

High battery consumption.

iBeacon/BLE

Based on Bluetooth Low Energy4.0 and

available on most new smartphones.

Energy consumption much lower then

Wifi.

Requires an app to be installed and

Bluetooth to be running.

Requires new technology/investments

and becomes complex to maintain

when you scale up.

Requires installation of beacons.

We’ve been comparing technologies for some time now and although we believe iBeacons has the potential to be great, we

don’t think there is a clear winner yet.

* Cisco, Navizon, Meridian, KAIST, WirelessWerx, GISi Indoors, Euclid ...

There are three basic approaches independent of the technology

(Wifi or BLE):

Device Based: This is the most common approach for outdoor

location (or to at least locate the building you’re in) as it can easily

be implemented without permission/support from the network.

Infrastructure based: This uses e.g. the existing Wifi

infrastructure (if supported) or dedicated Wifi or Bluetooth nodes.

Hybrid (Device and Infrastructure): Combines all available

location information (Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, sensors, etc)

The main technical approaches

Ourrecommendation

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All 3 technologies are cheap and easy to pilot so try them

out in one location and see what you think, how customers

respond, what the perceived value add is and how the

business case stacks up.

When Apple chose BLE as standard rather than NFC/

RFID, we predicted that the two winning technologies in

North America would be Wifi and BLE whereas NFC still

had a good chance in the rest of the world. NFC may still

play an important role in enterprise in North America as

companies control which devices are purchased.

A new kind of Wifi HW now exists that alters the transmitted

power, making it very difficult to measure and map a wifi

area for triangulation. This complicates the use of general

Wifi for a lot of the core uses described in this presentation.

In conclusion there is no one size fits all. The requirements

for indoor positioning and customer engagement need to

be assessed in each case before a recommendation can

be given. However, even if BLE beacons are the hottest

trend right now, Wifi can often fulfill the same requirements

cheaper and more easily.

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Since Apple announced iBeacon, 100s of companies have positioned themselves as Beacon

and indoor location and marketing providers. Here are just a few relevant industry players:

BLE Beacons: Entimote, Qualcomm, Roximity and indoor.rs

Wifi positioning and tracking: Cisco, Ariba (Meridian), Navizon and Infsoft

Proprietary Wifi nodes: knock.io

Wifi location databases: Skyhook Wireless and AlterGeo

Suppliers of Beacons

web www.goldengekko.com email info@goldengekko.com

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